Why Parker Drilling's Shares Dropped

Although we don't believe in timing the market or panicking over market movements, we do like to keep an eye on big changes -- just in case they're material to our investing thesis.

What: Shares of Parker Drilling dropped as much as 13% today, after announcing fourth quarter earnings.

So what: Revenue fell 13.2%, to $157.2 million, which was just slightly below the $159.7 million analysts expected, but the bottom line was much worse. The company reported a $0.03 per share loss when analysts expected a $0.06 per share profit, not the kind of miss any company wants to have.

Now what: Drilling service companies have been hammered recently, and Parker is no different. If you don't have exposure to ultra-deepwater drilling, there's simply too much supply right now, partly because drillers are becoming more efficient. The big earnings miss would keep me away from the stock today, and operations need to improve before I would buy in.

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